Gaff holder

ABSTRACT

A gaff holder which is a flexible tube, for example a spring, of length greater than twice the distance from the tip of the gaff to the mid-point of the hook and of internal diameter sufficient to permit movement of the hook along the tube and a flexibility sufficient to grip the gaff when the gaff is disposed within the tube, and mounted at the center on a backing plate in a manner which does not interfere with free flexibility of the tube to accommodate the gaff.

United States Patent Tarantino [76] Inventor:

Filed:

GAFF HOLDER June 10, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 477,555

[52] US. Cl 114/221 R; 211/89; 211/120 Int. Cl. B63b 17/00 Field ofSearch 114/218, 221 R; 248/373,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1912 Reynolds ..2ll/l2010/1949 Patterson 43/24 9/1957 Sauvago 294/26 [4 1 May 13, 1975 PrimaryExaminerTrygve M. Blix Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Frankfort Attorney,Agent, or FirmLadas, Parry, Von Gehr, Goldsmith & Deschamps [57]ABSTRACT A gaff holder which is a flexible tube, for example a spring,of length greater than twice the distance from the tip of the gaff tothe mid-point of the hook and of internal diameter sufficient to permitmovement of the hook along the tube and a flexibility sufficient to gripthe gaff when the gaff is disposed within the tube, and mounted at thecenter on a backing plate in a manner which does not interfere .withfree flexibility of the tube to accommodate the gaff.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures GAFF HOLDER DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ARTFishermen and other sportsmen have long needed an adequate holder for agaff which is a hook device for the final stages of catching a fish.While others have somewhat similar problems with devices in hook formthe situation is particularly aggravated for fishermen since they arefrequently in rough territory and in positions where they need the freeuse of both hands until such time as the gaff is required. When the gaffis required it is frequently required urgently and any impediment to itsfree use can raise major problems. In many instances the gaff is merelyhooked to a belt but this leaves the free end of the gaff unprotectedand with the sharp point can lead to serious injury or damage toclothing. In some instances fishermen have been in the practice oftaking a short length of flexible tubing and slipping this over the gaffso as to protect the point. Such an arrangement does not provide anymeans for holding the gaff readily available and may require the use oftwo hands to remove the protective tubing which is frequently impossiblein the final stages of catching a fish. Thus, up to this time there hasbeen no adequate method for protecting the point of the gaff andmoreover large numbers of gaff are lost because of the lack of a meansfor adequately holding the gaff.

Springs for holding articles on belts have been suggested in the art forinstance in U.S. Pat. No. 2,618,419 but such springs were merely aflexible means for attaching an article such as a hammer and did notprovide an adequate means for holding a relatively long hook likearticle such as a gaff and simultaneously to protect the point. Tubularholders for articles are of course taught in relation to, for instancemirror holders as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,965, but in these instances astraight tube is indicated with a device to be inserted also beingstraight and although a flexible sleeve may be provided for a bushing toprovide a tight fit this would be contrary to the concept of'a devicewhich free movement is necessary to allow ready withdrawal of the gaffwhich in any case is a curved object. Springs on holders have beensuggested as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,908 but again in the context ofholding an article such as a hose firmly within the spring rather thanin providing a flexibility for a curved object. In fishing the use of aspring on some form of mounting has been suggested as a line guide asin.U.S. Pat. No. 2,484,727 but such teachings is not particularlyrelevant to the problems of gaff holders since the problems of a fishingline are totally different from the problems of a relatively rigid hookas in a gaff holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there isprovided a gaff holder comprising:

a flexible tubing means of length greater than twice the distance fromthe tip of the gaff to the midpoint of the hook and of internal diametersufficient to permit movement of said hook along said tube and aflexibility sufficient to grip said gaff when said gaff is disposedwithin the said tube;

a backing plate to mount said gaff holder;

a mounting means centrally located of said tube to mount said tube onsaid backing plate said mounting means being along the outer surface ofsaid tube but occupying along said tube a distance less than that whichwould interfere with free flexibility of the tube to accommodate thegaff.

The mounting means can comprise a sleeve and means to hold said flexibletube in said sleeve which holding means may be two keepers provided onsaid tube one adjacent to each end of said sleeve to prevent actualmovement of said tube in said sleeve. The tube can be mounted withinsaid sleeve whereby rotation about the axis of said tube is possible. Inanother embodiment said means for attaching to said back plate comprisesa front plate having a channel therein and said tube is disposed in saidchannel when said back plate andfront plate are attached to each other.Again in this embodiment the tube can be maintained in the channel bytwo keepers firmly attached to said tube one at each end of saidchannel. In the preferred form of the invention the flexible tube is aspring.

Such a device is simple to manufacture. It can readily be attached toclothing usually to a belt and can be attached to a belt either in afixed form or in some form of detachable clip if the belt is desired forother purposes besides fishing. The gaff holder can be mounted also onother. bases, for example, a wall in a home or store or on a boat.Depending on the appropriate attachment of the flexible tube to thebacking plate by the means for mounting, the tube can rotate about itsaxis and the construction therefore usually permits, with theappropriate construction, the ability for the gaff to swing forward,backward, and sideways when the fisherman or sportsman is stepping intoor out of a boat or moving along rocks or jetties. The gaff is readilyremovable by one hand from the tube but until ready for removal isfirmly gripped by the tube so that there is no danger of loss. Equallywhen within the tube the gaff holder point is fully protected thuspreventing injury to the wearer or damage to clothing.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION The invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

- FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 1 a flexible tube 10 is formed from a spring. Said flexible tubeis of length sufficient that it will accommodate a gaff so that when themid-point of the curve of the hook of the gaff is at the center of thelength of the flexible tube or spring the point will be within theflexible tube.

The spring is disposed within a rigid tube 11 which rigid tube is at themid-point of the length of the spring. This tube is welded or otherwisefirmly attached for instance by rivets to a back plate 12. The spring orflexible tube 10 is maintained within the length tube 11 by keepers 13and 14 which are firmly attached for instance by welding to the spring.In this type of construction the spring would be able to rotate aboutits axis within the tube 11 but if desired the construction can be suchthat the spring is firmly held within the tube so as not to be able torotate. A construction permitting rotation is preferred but a fixedconstruction might be suitable for installation on a wall for example ina store. The spring can be maintained within the tube by directattachment to the tube for instance by welding or some form of adhesive.Particularly if the flexible tube is formed from other than a spring forinstance a flexible plastic tube, polymeric adhesives or other means canbe used.

The back plate 12 can be mounted on a belt or other article of clothing,although a belt is preferred, by means of rivets passed through holes 15and 16 or other normal means for mounting an article on a belt. Forinstance the back plate could have appropriate lugs which could bedisposed through the belt or other means can be provided. As alreadyindicated the back plate can also be mounted on a fixed article such asa wall. Generally the disposition of the flexible tube and the backplate is such that in use the tube is disposed horizontally.

The length and diameter of the flexible tube will generally be chosen toaccommodate a number of gaff sizes. Since the gaff is held within thegaff holder by reason of the friction resulting from the curving of thetube about the gaff, the internal diameter of the tube can be sufficientto accommodate a variety of gaffs of different thickness of hook memberand different diameters of curve. The length of the flexible tube whichis affixed to the back plate so as to be relatively rigid as by reasonof the rigid tube should be chosen so as not to interfere with theflexibility of the tube and the passage of the gaff along the tube inuse. Therefore a relatively short length of flexible tube which isattached to the back plate is desirable consonant with sufficient lengthbeing available for adequate mounting on the back plate.

In an alternative form of the invention as shown in FIG. 3 a front plate20 is formed with a channel 21. On mounting of the front plate on theback plate 22 by welding or riveting an outer tube or channel is createdwithin which a flexible tube 23 can be disposed. The flexible tube canbe held within said channel by keepers 24 and 25 or by other meanssimilar to those already described for the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2.The holder can be attached to a belt by rivets through holder 26 and 27.

Other mounting means for attaching the flexible tube to the back platecan readily be visualized. Thus under certain circumstances the mountingmeans could simply comprise a weld or other joining agent between theflexible tube and the back plate. It might even be possible to form theentire gaff holder by a single molding operation with the thicknesses ofthe mold at different areas being sufficient to provide the flexibilityin the tube and the required rigidity of the back plate the mountingmeans then being the plastic at the junction of tube and back plate.

The conception of the gaff holder and its many applications is notlimited to the specific embodiment as shown and variations therefrom maybe made within the scope of the accompanying claims without sacrificingits chief advantages and protection to the broadest extent the prior artallows.

I claim:

1. A gaff holder comprising:

a flexible tubing means of length greater than twice the distance fromthe tip of the gaff to the midpoint of the hook and of internal diametersufficient to permit movement of said hook along said tube and aflexibility sufficient to grip said gaff when said gaff is disposedwithin the said tube;

a backing plate to mount said gaff holder;

a mounting means centrally located of said tube to mount said tube onsaid backing plate said mounting means being along the outer surface ofsaid tube but occupying along said tube a distance less than that whichwould interfere with free flexibility of the tube to accommodate thegaff.

2. A gaff holder according to claim 1, wherein said mounting meanscomprises a sleeve and means to hold said flexible tube in said sleeve.

3. A gaff holder according to claim 2, wherein said means to hold thetube are two keepers provided on said tube one adjacent to each end ofsaid sleeve to prevent axial movement of said tube in said sleeve.

4. A gaff holder according to claim 3, wherein said tube is mountedwithin said sleeve whereby rotation about the axis of said tube ispossible.

5. A gaff holder according to claim 1, wherein said means for attachingto said back plate comprises a front plate having a channel therein andsaid tube is disposed in said channel when said back plate and frontplate are attached to each other.

6. A gaff holder according to claim 5, wherein said tube is maintainedin said channel by two keepers firmly attached to said tube one at eachend of said channel.

7. A gaff holder according to claim 1, in which said flexible tube is aspring.

1. A gaff holder comprising: a flexible tubing means of length greaterthan twice the distance from the tip of the gaff to the mid-point of thehook and of internal diameter sufficient to permit movement of said hookalong said tube and a flexibility sufficient to grip said gaff when saidgaff is disposed within the said tube; a backing plate to mount saidgaff holder; a mounting means centrally located of said tube to mountsaid tube on said backing plate said mounting means being along theouter surface of said tube but occupying along said tube a distance lessthan that which would interfere with free flexibility of the tube toaccommodate the gaff.
 2. A gaff holder according to claim 1, whereinsaid mounting means comprises a sleeve and means to hold said flexibletube in said sleeve.
 3. A gaff holder according to claim 2, wherein saidmeans to hold the tube are two keepers provided on said tube oneadjacent to each end of said sleeve to prevent axial movement of saidtube in said sleeve.
 4. A gaff holder according to claim 3, wherein saidtube is mounted within said sleeve whereby rotation about the axis ofsaid tube is possible.
 5. A gaff holder according to claim 1, whereinsaid means for attaching to said back plate comprises a front platehaving a channel therein and said tube is disposed in said channel whensaid back plate and front plate are attached to each other.
 6. A gaffholder according to claim 5, wherein said tube is maintained in saidchannel by two keepers firmly attached to said tube one at each end ofsaid channel.
 7. A gaff holder according to claim 1, in which saidflexible tube is a spring.